Close Ties
by native portlandian
Summary: My submissions for BBRAE week. Because who doesn't love this ship?
1. Midnight

Disclaimer – I own 0% of Teen Titans franchise! Sadly…

A/N – HELLO FRIENDS I AM TAKING A BREAK FROM SNIPPETS TO PARTICIPATE IN BBRAE WEEK. So yeah. Gonna try and include all seven days here :D (even though I'm late on the first one whoops)

…

Beast Boy crouched on the roof of an abandoned shanty beside the Amazon River. He was about fifteen miles out from Manaus. It wasn't too far, especially with his distance animal forms. And Beast Boy liked Brazil. He was partial to the hot weather and crowded jungles.

The entire team was spread out all over the world, trying to undermine the Brotherhood of Evil's shenanigans and pick up possible heroes while they were at it. Robin had sent Beast Boy a message on his communicator two days before that Cheshire was traveling toward this general area, and he was to find her and question her. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of the weird, quiet mask-lady. But he had assumed she wanted to keep low. According to her villain profile, she was originally from Vietnam. The jungles must be somewhat similar.

One of the people from this village had told him she had seen a suspicious girl wearing a cat – or at least something close to that. Beast Boy's Portuguese was rusty at best. It was sort of close to Spanish, right?

The world was incredibly dark. Beast Boy crossed his legs and sat back, feeling slightly impatient. It was hard to stay an animal in this particular habitat – it would be so easy to just _run free_. It's the Amazon! He could live forever in that bountiful forest as anything he wanted. Which is exactly what the animals whispered to him from the back of his mind. So it was probably better to stay as a human. Albeit a human with pretty excellent senses.

Beast Boy pulled out his communicator and checked the time. It was midnight. The darkness was deep and it would be a while before dawn broke. And if he was smart, he'd stay awake the _whole_ time. Why did villains have to do their thing at night? Did they _sleep_?

Trying to pass a bit of the time, he checked his teammate's locations. If the time zones lined up, maybe he could talk to someone. Robin was in Oman, where it was 8 a.m. The Boy Wonder was most likely awake, but probably wouldn't be up for chatting. Starfire was apparently out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, according to her communicator, which meant she was probably flying. Beast Boy's eyes flicked over the little map as he tried to find the blue dot that signified Cyborg. He eventually found it not too far from his, in Mexico.

"That's only two hours behind!" Beast Boy whispered to himself. He quickly tapped out a little message.

_Hey, dude! I'm bored. Can I call?_

Two minutes later, his communicator buzzed back.

_Sorry, B. I gotta get into the wrestling biz down here. Apparently it's the only way to Pantha._

Beast Boy growled in frustration. There was one more Titan he could call, and he wasn't to certain she'd want to hear from him anyway. Groaning slightly, he went back to the map to look for Raven's purple dot.

…

Raven had decided very quickly that she hated Greenland. Specifically the teeny, tiny town of Qaanaaq. Even in her thick winter cloak, the icy chill still managed to cut her down to the bone. She had been flying in her section of the T-ship from a meeting with Kole and Gnarrk on the whole Brotherhood situation, and apparently neglected to notice how low on supplies she was. So, she stopped in the only town for hundreds of miles – Qaanaaq.

It was very cold in Qaanaaq. And also very, very snowy. Raven hated snow.

She was currently sitting in the dining room of a bed and breakfast. If you could call it that. It was basically a table and a chair, with the kitchen implements about five feet to her right. A small window looked out on a black, star-filled sky. A candle made of fat burned in front of her hands. The house was heated, but the system was old and rickety. Raven still wore her cloak indoors, plus her uniform and the reindeer-fur sweater the woman who owned the B&amp;B made for her. The old woman was so happy to have a customer that she had spent hours sitting in the corner and knitting, much to Raven's discomfort. There was nowhere else to go, leaving her sitting politely with a woman who boiled her tea over an open fire and spoke heavily accented Danish.

Raven tapped her fingernails on the wooden surface of the table, wishing she had a book with her. Everything besides her small bag of toiletries and an extra uniform was still in the T-ship, which sat at the tiny airport. Hopefully, she would be leaving in the morning. She pulled out her communicator and checked the time. It was just after midnight. Raven considered going to the little bedroom down the hall she had been assigned and going to sleep, but it seemed much too cold. Which was stupid, because the night would only get colder.

Just as she was about to put her communicator away, it buzzed. She looked at it in surprise. _A message._ She picked up the little yellow device and opened it.

_Hi, Rae. U up?_

It was Beast Boy. Raven scowled slightly. Of all the people she wanted to talk to…

_Can I call? _

She stared at the communicator. Her heart had quickened slightly in her chest – why, she wasn't sure. Did she want to talk to Beast Boy right now?

_I'm homesick_.

She felt a twinge of pity. Letting out a sigh, she murmured, "I'm going to regret this."

_Sure, Beast Boy._

Almost immediately, her communicator buzzed with an incoming transmission. She cradled it in her fingers for a moment, wondering if she was making a mistake. On the third round of buzzing, she flipped it open.

Beast Boy's face was lit only by the light from his communicator. Everything else around him was dark. Raven could hear the chatter of background noise – creatures of the night, she assumed. He flashed a toothy smile and waved a gloved hand at the screen.

"I didn't think you would pick up," he whispered. Raven blinked.

"I almost didn't," she murmured in her usual deadpan. Beast Boy rolled his eyes playfully. On his end, there was a sudden, high pitched howl. Raven started, but the changeling barely flinched. "What was that?"

"Howler monkey," Beast Boy said. "Up pretty late. Maybe it saw a jaguar."

"Where are you?" she asked. He must have been in a jungle, most likely in South America.

"Brazil," he answered. "And your communicator says it's in some town I can't pronounce."

"Qaanaaq," she said, a slight smile threatening her mouth.

Beast Boy scratched his chin, his green eyes flicking skywards. "That's spelled the same forwards and backwards!"

This time, she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. "I didn't notice that."

They talked for upwards of an hour. Raven found herself relaxing in Beast Boy's presence, even laughing at a few of his jokes. At around one-thirty in the morning, Beast Boy grew silent. Raven assumed he was getting tired; she definitely was.

"Can you see the moon?"

She was caught off guard by the question. "From where I'm sitting?"

"Yeah." Beast Boy had set down the communicator on the roof and was now just a dim shape. His eyes glowed slightly in the dark though, and she saw they were facing the sky. Raven glanced out of the window next to her and saw the silver sliver of the moon, sitting in a basket of stars.

"I can see it."

Beast Boy was quiet for a moment. "Isn't it funny," he began, "that that is the same moon I'm looking at now?"

Raven blinked a few times. A slight blush had settled on her cheeks, and she wasn't sure why.

Beast Boy continued without a response. "We're thousands of miles apart, Rae. On opposite ends of the world. And we're looking at the exact same thing."

The moon had never looked so interesting before. Raven couldn't take her eyes off of the sky. She could almost imagine emerald eyes staring back.

"Really makes you feel close," Beast Boy whispered. The sorceress blushed profusely, taken out of her trance.

"To home!" he added on, embarrassment flooding his voice. "Ya know. Same moon we see at the Tower."

"Yeah," Raven mumbled. Later in the evening, after both had signed off, Raven lay in her bed, surrounded by fur-lined blankets. There was another small window facing the same direction as the one in the kitchen. She focused her gaze on the sky as she fell asleep.

Her eyes refused to leave the moon.

Over five thousand miles south, Beast Boy's didn't either.


	2. Second Kiss

Disclaimer – Still don't lol

…

As the Team grew older and developed, many things changed. They dropped the "Teen" from their team's title. As soon as he turned eighteen, Robin began going by Nightwing, discarding his old uniform for one of blue and black. Cyborg upgraded his systems. Starfire finally convinced Nightwing to become "Boyfriend Nightwing".

But for the most part, Beast Boy and Raven remained the same. Sure, they looked slightly older, but still wore the same uniforms and cut their hair the same way they always had. Being the youngest members of the team, they really had no incentive to change. Beast Boy was starting to get teased for still going by "boy" when he was nineteen, but he had grown attached to the name and didn't feel like changing it yet. It had taken him a whole year to remember what to call Nightwing.

Beast Boy had, however, acquired a taste for solitude. Of course, he still loved the Team and spent most of his time with them, but ever since his brush with leadership with the Brotherhood of Evil, he wanted to push his boundaries. It would be little things at first – going out at night to patrol without permission. Eventually, he convinced Nightwing to let him take day trips outside of the city. Nowadays, after letting Nightwing know, Beast Boy would disappear for a week or two. It felt good to be independent, and honestly, it helped him find himself. Cheesy, yes. But also pretty helpful.

The first time he left without notice was the night he and Raven first kissed. It had been a warm September night, and movie night had just ended. The rest of the Team had gone to bed, but Beast Boy and Raven continued to talk. It was mostly a drawn out argument that Beast Boy was enjoying far too much. Raven wasn't leaving, so Beast Boy took this as further invitation. They talked for about thirty minutes, their argument dissipating. It was Beast Boy who suggested walking around the Tower to stretch their legs. Surprisingly, she agreed.

They eventually ended up on the roof. The moon was full, spilling silvery light all over the top of the Tower. They sat on the edge, legs dangling over. Raven had pulled her hood back, exposing her soft, gray profile. Feeling playful, Beast Boy pretended to fall forward, like he was slipping off of the Tower. Raven had grabbed his arm roughly and pulled him back, chastising him for being so foolish. Their faces were rather close, about two inches apart.

He had no idea what had come over him. It was like someone had taken over his body. Beast Boy grabbed both sides of Raven's face and crushed his lips to hers. She was trembling underneath the pressure of his mouth, her cold hands clenching against his knee. Her mouth was warm despite this, and her skin smelled faintly of lavender and chamomile. It was intoxicating.

Then the moment passed. Beast Boy pulled back, his heart climbing into his throat. Panic descended on him almost immediately. He had just _kissed Raven_. This girl barely tolerated him, let alone was interested in kissing him. On top of that, she was his friend! Just his friend! Friends don't kiss each other! Also, she was very, _very_ capable of killing him or sending him to another dimension or something equally as horrible.

Beast Boy scuttled back on his hands and feet, very aware of the edge right beside him. Raven was watching him, her violet eyes somewhat unfocused and her mouth hanging open.

"I'm s-sorry," he stuttered. "God, I'm so so so sorry."

"Beast Boy," Raven murmured, blinking a few times.

"Rae, I'm sorry," he forced out. "I'm gonna go." He was getting to his feet, backing up along the ledge. "I'm sorry." He ignored her repeating his name, taking off into a run to the other edge of the roof. He leaped off and immediately shifted into a seagull. Flapping his wings madly, he put as much distance between himself and Raven as possible.

He had flown all night and landed on a small island about thirty miles into the bay, where he had fallen asleep in an exhausted heap. When he woke up, he turned off his communicator, which was brimming with messages and missed calls from all of his teammates, mostly from Nightwing and Raven. He would get in trouble for turning it off – they were never _ever_ supposed to do that. But he needed space to think.

Kissing Raven: what the hell had he been thinking? Beast Boy attempted to sort through his thoughts, but it was mostly a jumbled, confused mess. He had never felt anything particularly romantic towards Raven before. She was a really good friend, not to mention pretty good-looking, but he had never even had a crush on her. Isn't that how it's supposed to go? Noticing, then crushing, then kissing? He groaned and put his head between his legs.

Raven had never really shown any particular special liking for him either, as far as he could tell. If anything, she held a strong dislike for him. _But then why didn't she pull away?_ Beast Boy scowled at the pale sand beneath him. Raven was an enigma. Lord knew whatever emotions that woman felt, because she sure as hell never showed them.

Beast Boy stood up and started to pace. There was nothing he could do about the kiss now; the damage had been done. Now he needed to figure out what he was going to do next. Running away forever was probably not an option. Avoid Raven for the rest of their natural lives? That would be really hard, considering they live and work in the same space. Pretend like nothing ever happened? The most tantalizing option – maybe Raven would eventually forget the incident. Beast Boy considered it further and decided that wasn't likely. She still remembered that time he glued her hands to the controller all those years ago. With a frustrated growl, Beast Boy realized that he probably had to talk to her and apologize. It would be a massive kick to his ego, but he deserved it.

He turned into a rabbit and made for the trees, a need to burn off energy pushing at his skin. As he ran, his brain similarly raced with even more thoughts. Why had he kissed Raven? Was it a spur of the moment deal? Or did he really feel something for her?

The sun was setting by the time Beast Boy made it home. He landed on the roof and immediately returned to his human form. His stomach churned with nervousness, and he decided to get _it_ over with quickly. He descended the steps down to the bedrooms, feeling too twitchy to take the elevator. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his uniform and kept his head down on his way to her door. He felt like he was a convict being taken on that last walk to the electric chair.

There it was. Her door. Beast Boy swallowed and brushed a hand through his thick green hair. With the other, he forced himself to knock. His heart was beating much too quickly than what was probably healthy. Maybe a heart attack would kill him before Raven did.

The door slid open, and all the blood drained from Beast Boy's face. Why was he sweating? What was he supposed to say again? More importantly, how were words formed?

Raven fixed her purple gaze on him. She was expressionless. Beast Boy was having some serious trouble breathing. Her cloak was off; she had most likely been meditating. Beast Boy wondered if he could have chosen a worse time to make an idiot of himself. Was it too late to pretend nothing had ever happened?

"Where were you?" Raven asked in an even tone. Beast Boy blinked rapidly, entirely unsure how to answer. "Everyone was worried sick. Why is your communicator off? Nightwing will have your ass for this, Beast Boy."

He finally found his tongue. "Raven, I need to talk to you."

She was quiet. She glanced down and crossed her arms in front of her. "You _need_ to talk to Nightwing."

Beast Boy clenched his jaw. "Listen, about the other night –"

"When you ran off with no warning."

He winced at her accusing tone. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

She glanced up at him, surprise lighting up her eyes. "Sorry for what?"

Beast Boy blushed profusely. Was she really gonna make him say it. "For, uh, ya know. Kissing you. It was totally uncalled for and you probably hate me and I just –"

Raven stepped forward and pressed her lips softly to his, effectively shutting him up. Beast Boy was shocked at first, and could barely feel her small hands hooked around his neck. But the kiss sent a burst of heat all through his body, followed almost right away by a shiver. And just like that he was kissing her back, his hands cautiously settling on her waist.

Raven broke the kiss after a moment, keeping her arms around his neck. Her dark eyes were focused intently on his. Beast Boy felt like he was floating ten feet off the floor.

"Don't be sorry," she murmured. "I'm certainly not."


	3. Dreaming

Raven never dreamed. She never had. Instead, she was graced with nightmares. This wasn't a weird occurrence in the Tower – every single one of them was plagued with the awful images every once in a while. Raven could easily tell who else had suffered the night before – whether it be the absence of a smile in the morning or dark circles under their eyes. Starfire had the least nightmares, but when she did, they were extreme. She'd scream and curse and sometimes even accidentally hurt whoever came to her aide. Whenever this happened, Raven buried her face into her pillow and stammered her mantra over and over. Starfire's fear was strong enough to cut the empath to the core.

Her empathy was one of the reasons she had so many nightmares – her teammate's emotions still probed her in sleep, if not more so. She had seen Robin's parents die many times, and had felt the torture of the Joker and Slade. She had felt the Gordanian shackles lock around her wrists, Blackfire emotionless before her. She'd dream of waking up in a hospital bed and looking down to see most of her body taken away, replaced by heavy, cold metal. And, every once in a while, she'd dream about the murdered bodies of herself and her friends lying before her, blood and gore caking her massive green claws.

Her own nightmares usually involved her father and a great deal of hellfire. Sometimes it was her friends dying in horrendous ways or looking at her like she was a monster. She had stopped seeing her own death in her dreams after working with the team for a while. Her brain, after all, knew the worst ways to torture her.

Raven woke from a particularly bad dream one night, sitting up fast enough to give herself whiplash and screaming "_NO!_" Immediately realizing she had cried out loud, she slapped her hands over her mouth and prayed no one had heard her. She squeezed her eyes shut, folding over herself and trying to stop the shaking.

There was a soft knock on the door. Raven glanced up at the sound, her eyes round with anxiety. Who had she woken up? Robin? Starfire?

"Can I come in?" None of the above. It was Beast Boy. Raven buried her face in her hands and groaned softly.

"Go away," she rasped. She could feel his presence now; his worry pushed against the door like a wall of snow.

"Dude, just open the door. I'll sit here until you do." It was a mild threat at best, but Raven knew that Beast Boy was aware his loud emotions would keep her awake anyway. The green boy was smarter than he put on. With a sigh, Raven waved her hand and opened the door with her powers.

Beast Boy stood awkwardly in the doorway, his hair ruffled from sleep. He wore a t-shirt that was now much too small, and purple zebra print boxers. In any other situation, Raven would mock his appearance. But now all she could do was sit and try to control her breathing.

Beast Boy stepped into her room, allowing the door to shut behind him. For a moment, they were shrouded in darkness. Shakily, Raven snapped her fingers and a few candles burst to life. Beast Boy sat carefully on the end of her bed, his hands rubbing his knees self-consciously.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly. Raven nodded, afraid that her voice would break if she spoke. A silence settled over them, neither one meeting the other's eyes.

"Did you want to talk about it?" he queried. Raven pursed her lips, staring intently into the flames of one of the candles. She had never been comfortable about opening up to people.

Beast Boy fiddled with his hands, looking strangely serious. "When I was littler – like, still on the Doom Patrol littler – I used to get nightmares all the time. Really bad ones. Usually about my parents. And I'd wake up screaming for them." He paused, biting his lip. Raven was watching his face now. "Rita – er, Elastigirl – used to come in and make sure I was okay. She'd listen to what I had dreamed and then she'd comfort me; tell me everything was gonna be okay. Then she'd stay with me; or at least until I fell asleep." He glanced over at Raven, a tinge of color on his cheeks. "Like a mom. And no one here has one, so we all wake up screaming and crying and no one is there."

Another heavy silence settled on the two. Beast Boy traced his fingers over the covers on the bed, his blush barely visible in the candlelight. Raven brushed a strand of violet hair away from her face. "I dreamed about my dad," she said suddenly. Beast Boy looked up at her, his ears pricking. "Well, I dreamed more about myself. It was as if I was watching from a screen behind my eyes. I couldn't control anything – not talking, moving, or my powers. But I could feel it happening. And my dad was speaking to me. In my head. And I watched myself kill all of you." Her voice caught, and she looked down at her hands. They were squeezed into fists. "Your screams were so…real. And I was _laughing_." Tears welled in her eyes again, and her voice shook with each word. "And when all of you were dead, I looked behind me into the window of a building, and I looked just like _him._"

She didn't know when she started crying. But she felt his strong arms wrap around her form and pull her into him. She let him murmur soft, empty words into her hair and smooth his hand up and down her back. It was such an extreme moment of weakness for her. Beast Boy always seemed to be around for these moments.

When she stopped crying, Beast Boy held her for a moment before pulling away. He scratched to back of his head, an awkward look overtaking his features. "So, uh, I'll let you sleep now, Rae." He moved to get up.

"Wait!" Raven shot forward, latching her hand around the changeling's wrist. She needed someone. She didn't want to be alone in the dark again. "Please stay."

Beast Boy's ear twitched with embarrassment. "Uh, okay, Raven. If you want me too." Raven nodded and scooted over in her bed. Oh yes, she would regret this. But for now, it was necessary. Beast Boy climbed over beside her, pulling the blankets up over his legs. Raven extinguished the candles, hoping the darkness would hide the blush of her shame.

Trying not to think about it too much, she curled her body into Beast Boy's arms. He automatically pulled her closer to him, his chin resting on the top of her head. He was warm and comforting, and the slow motion of his hand on her back eventually lolled Raven back to sleep.

That night, she had no nightmares at all.

A/N – I know it's late. I have a life ya know!


	4. Protection

Beast Boy had a very rudimentary understanding of love from the beginning of his life. Growing up with parents as loudly affectionate as he was, Beast Boy always thought that that was how _all_ people showed their love. So he treated everyone he cared for that way – with tight hugs and loud proclamations of feelings. And after his parents died, he was thrown into an entirely new environment. Rita was affectionate, but still distant. It took Beast Boy a while to believe her when she told him she loved him. It was painful at first – the untainted waterfall of love he had been given from his parents had disappeared, replaced by something completely different. Even going into his teen years Beast Boy still didn't really understand the Doom Patrol's distant, professional love for him. He knew they cared, but loved?

Mento was especially an issue. No matter how many times Rita assured him, Beast Boy never thought that Steve loved him. "He tolerates me," he'd spat. "If he loves me, why doesn't he show it?"

Rita's eyes had grown sad. "He's afraid to." It took Beast Boy years to understand what that statement meant, and by that time he was long gone.

He began to notice it in other people too: the fearful love. Most people, actually. For a little while Beast Boy began to resent his parents for teaching him the wrong way to love people. They found him overbearing and annoying. He struggled with finding a way of showing people he cared without driving them away. Around this time, he discovered he had a knack for making people laugh.

Beast Boy's jokes were stupid and mostly corny, but it made him likeable to people. It was how he grew close to Cyborg, who already leaned toward the louder edge of affection. So did Starfire, which also made her easier to befriend. Raven and Robin, however, remained as far away as anyone.

It was Mento all over again. He came head to head with the two more than once, especially Raven. He wanted to love them, the same way he had wanted to love his adopted father. But they made it _so hard_. Beast Boy could not love without any love in return – it just wasn't in his nature. He'd get that lonely feeling again; the one that had surfaced after his parents died.

So he tried a new tactic. Robin he treated with respect and quiet admiration, hoping his leader would eventually mirror it back to him. Raven was an entirely different battle. Whatever he tried, she showed the same empty reaction, whether it was respect, friendliness, aloofness, and even animosity. However, he had gotten her to laugh once before. And if that was the only thing he can do to win her love, then by God he'd continue to do it.

When he met Terra, it was like a bright blast of emotion suddenly entered his life. She was like him – her affection was loud and massive. He began to free up his love, and soon it flowed as freely as it had when his parents were alive. Beast Boy had never been happier.

And when she was torn from his grasp, he was broken. The worst part was the fact that she chose not to love him. They all said she couldn't. Couldn't love? If Terra, who had no ration on affection, was incapable of love, who was to say anyone was?

And in those first few months, Beast Boy stopped believing in love. They were all just creatures forced together into a small space. They had to tolerate each other, or else they'd kill each other. And the people you really did love could be ripped from your grasp without warning or regret. Without meaning to, Beast Boy built a wall around himself.

It was to protect himself, like a turtle's shell or a porcupine's quills. It was then that he realized exactly what Rita meant by Mento's fear of love. Was it really a fear of loss? Beast Boy could certainly relate to that. After Terra, he didn't want to let anyone in at all. In the end, wouldn't it just end in pain? After all, that's what happened with his parents. He had loved them so much, and look where that led him.

Even after he began to heal from Terra's wounds, Beast Boy found that he still couldn't truly love anyone anymore. It was terrifying and sad, because he wanted so badly to love everyone as freely as he had before.

"Why didn't you do anything with that waitress? She was practically falling all over you! She gave you her number!" Cyborg was baffled with Beast Boy's indifference to flirty women. His mind would just jump forward, reminding him that relationships ended in sadness, anger, or death. There was no other option, and he wanted none of it.

Raven seemed to catch on to Beast Boy's broken faith in love. He'd catch her looking at him sometimes, a pained expression briefly crossing her soft face. One night, she sat next to him, making no obvious attempt at conversation.

"Love is important," she'd said after a moment. He looked over at her, one eyebrow raised. She was looking at her hands. "I also used to think it was useless, especially when my mother never showed me any. But I have learned that you can't get rid of it – it's always there, pulsing beneath your skin and making itself known in the oddest ways." She paused, staring straight forward now. "I want you to know right now that even if I don't show it, I do love you, Beast Boy."

These words sparked hope in his chest. And slowly, he began to let himself love again, well in mind of the consequences that rode with every relationship. Because really, life is too short for anything else.

A/N – I'm apparently feeling angsty today. Lol. I based this one off of the song "The Wrong Direction" by Passenger. It's a damn good song and it just feels so BB to me! I hope you enjoyed, sorry this is so short 3


	5. Firsts

A/N – This is sort of a sequel to my "second kiss" story. Enjoy.

Raven had never experienced anything close to a crush before joining the Titans. So when the first inklings of feeling began to sink into her, she pushed them as far away as possible. They were weird and uninvited, and not aimed where she wanted them to be.

When pressed, Raven would say her first crush was on Malchior. He was certainly her first heartbreak. But in reality, her blooming feelings of romantic attractions had begun long before. It had started with a general rush of blood throughout her body when that particular person interacted with her. She had first thought she was getting sick, which was ridiculous in hindsight. But at the time she was petrified of the feeling. She began meditating more, trying to figure out exactly what was causing this horrid flood of unwarranted emotion. Nevermore was absolutely no help; all of her emoticlones seemed just as confused. They made cryptic remarks about the "new one", but Raven could never get deep enough to understand exactly what they meant. They were, after all, pieces of her, and held only the knowledge she possessed. It was a fruitless endeavor.

So she went to the second best well of information – Starfire.

The alien girl was thrilled to have Raven come to her for advice. This was in the early stages of their relationship, and so far Raven had barely opened up to the other girl. Trying to put all fears aside, Raven told Starfire about her symptoms: the sudden rush of blood, an increase in heartrate, and sudden, intrusive thoughts. Starfire had been intrigued, claiming that she had felt similar feelings before but wasn't entirely certain on the English term for it.

"I read it somewhere in the magazine of _Seventeen_," the alien girl said excitedly. She pointed to a stack of girly-looking magazines. Raven cringed. Starfire flew over and began to rifle through it, as though looking for something in particular. Eventually, she let out a small squeal and held out one of them to Raven. The young sorceress raised an eyebrow at the cover. There was an airbrushed teenager in a seductive position, her mouth open in what was apparently a laugh. Her head was thrown back, golden curls cascading down over her shoulder. In large, bubbly print: "FIFTEEN SIGNS HE'S THE ONE!"

Raven took it, feeling horrendously awkward. "Thank you, Starfire. This might…help."

Starfire giggled. "It is most helpful, friend Raven!"

And it was. When Raven could ignore the obnoxious colors and layout, she was able to pick out the information she wanted. According to the symptoms she had been experiencing, Raven had a _crush_. It was a disgusting thought.

Especially since it was on Beast Boy.

It took her a while to admit her feelings to herself, and by that time, it was more than a crush. Somewhere between attraction and love. Of course, she kept it to herself, under so many wraps that her interactions with the boy verged on animosity. Everyone was oblivious to her feelings, which was exactly the way Raven wanted it. Mostly, she was just hoping that it would eventually go away, fade into oblivion. She wasn't made to love anyone in the first place.

At first, Terra seemed like a blessing. She took Beast Boy away from Raven, allowing the sorceress to gather her feelings and attempt to repress them further. This backfired awfully – all that came up was jealousy, causing her to act rude to both the boy and girl in question.

Then, when she betrayed them, Raven's jealously escalated into hatred. How there she break Beast Boy's heart? How dare she torture the team? How dare she throw every ounce of trust she had earned out the window? But in the end, she forgave her. Her sacrifice helped Raven to understand that Terra was just a confused child – much like herself.

Beast Boy's interest in anyone was deflated for a long time after the loss of Terra. Raven felt sick to her stomach when she realized that her feelings only seemed to be growing stronger. Everything that happened to draw them closer – Malchior and his betrayal, her father's return, the incident with the Beast. She couldn't seem to escape the escalating relationship with the green boy.

Her first kiss with Beast Boy was awkward and wildly unexpected. He had grabbed her face and kissed her on the roof of the Tower, and she had nearly broken every window on the top ten floors. And then he had jumped off the edge of the building, stumbling over apologies and stricken with fear.

When he had come back, she had worked up her courage and kissed him again. It probably terrified him further at first, judging by how tense he was, but he soon melted into her. Their lips, which at first had been so harshly thrust together, were now tender and soft. The tips of her fingers had caressed the ends of his hair, and his broad palms rested gently on the curve of her waist.

Raven thought that would clarify the relationship she wanted with Beast Boy, but the changeling only avoided her in the days following. She was confused and a little hurt. He had kissed her first, after all. Wasn't that any testament to his feelings? Or had he acted in a moment of sudden passion and she had read it as something utterly different?

Eventually, her patience waned and Raven decided it was time to confront Beast Boy. She sat down on the couch in the Ops room and pulled out a book, ready to stake it out and wait. Beast Boy was a creature of habit, and had taken to coming into the kitchen to get a glass of soy milk before bed. At ten p.m., Raven heard the door slide open. Immediately, she recognized the familiar aura of who she was waiting for.

"Beast Boy," she said, breaking the silence. Behind her, Beast Boy let out a squeak, and a glass shattered onto the floor. Raven sighed.

"Didn't see you there," Beast Boy laughed uncomfortably. Raven stood up at turned toward the man in question. He was wearing nothing but his outrageous boxers. Raven flushed and pulled up her hood.

"Don't bother with the glass," she muttered. With a flick of her hand, she picked up the pieces in a ball of black energy and deposited them in the garbage. Beast Boy didn't look at her, crossing his gangly arms across his bare chest.

"What about the soy milk?" he asked. Raven stifled an annoyed growl.

"Let's talk first," she said softly. Beast Boy was turning a reddish color, strange on his green skin. She forced down the sudden idea of how adorable it was. _I'm here for business._

"Okay," he said, still obviously uncomfortable. He pulled out a dining room chair and sat down, attempting to sit cross-legged until realizing the chair was too small.

Raven decided it was best to cut to the chase. "Why are you avoiding me?"

Beast Boy scratched the back of his neck, apparently very interested in the tabletop. "Avoiding you? I'm not avoiding you."

Raven scoffed. "Yes you are, Beast Boy. Did I make you uncomfortable when I kissed you? Because I need to know now if I read anything incorrectly."

Beast Boy looked up at her suddenly, his eyes wide. "No! No, that's not it at all." He began to fiddle with his hands, dropping his gaze again. "I'm just…a little confused."

Raven pulled out a chair across from him, sitting slowly. She didn't take her eyes off of his face. "What are you confused about?" she asked gently. Beast Boy's jaw clenched tightly in frustration.

"You!" he blurted at last. "What do you want from me?"

Raven blinked. "I thought I made that clear."

Beast Boy sighed, clenching his fists on the tabletop. "Um, no? Not even a little bit! You've hated me for years and years and then suddenly there's that kiss and dude, I don't even know why I did that!" His voice had risen slightly. "And then you kiss me back, and I just…I'm confused!"

Raven considered what he had said. Considering that she had spent a good portion of her time with Beast Boy denying that she had _any_ feelings for him, it was understandable that he would be confused. She suddenly felt slightly embarrassed that she had been mad at him at all. If Raven reversed their roles, she could see how this might be affecting him.

"And I haven't figured out how this is even registering with my brain!" Beast Boy was still ranting, leaning over the table to her. His emerald eyes were alight with something akin to anger. "I mean, one day I'm pretty sure you still resent me for some reason, and then today I just want to -" With no warning, his arms shot out and he gripped her shoulders over the table, pulling her roughly into him. He crushed his lips to hers, a fiery passion suddenly engulfing him. Raven kissed back with the same fervor, her hands pressing into his warm, bare chest.

His hands moved from her shoulders to her hair, grabbing fistfuls and pulling it into him. With a quick slice of her powers (whether or not it was conscious, Raven wasn't sure), the table split in half. Gravity pulled them to the floor and broke her chair, but neither noticed as their passion doubled with the press of each other's bodies. His fang tore into the delicate skin on her lip, bringing forth a bead of blood. She shivered with pleasure, tangling her legs into his and pulling his hips into hers. Beast Boy growled loudly, nipping at the corners of her jaw and down her throat. Raven was writhing beneath him, her fingernails tearing over his broad shoulders.

And then he was kissing her again, the press of his teeth and tongue making her gasp and moan. He reciprocated her sounds, one hand tracing the curves of her body beneath him. They broke apart, breathing heavily and staring at each other. Lips were swollen, bruises and cuts forming. "That," Beast Boy finished, his pupils wide and dark. Raven was still catching her breath.

"Alright." Both Titans started at the noise, whipping their heads sharply toward the source. All three of the other Titans stood in the doorway, various expressions on each of their faces. Raven and Beast Boy were too shocked to move.

It was Robin who had spoken. He was looking at the broken table with a stony expression. "I think that's enough, you two."

Cyborg was scratching the human half of his head. "How did you guys manage to break the table and two chairs?"

Starfire was looking at the two on the floor, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "Friends, must you engage in intercourse on the floor of the kitchen? There must be a more appropriate place."

"Uhm," Beast Boy scrambled off of Raven, his face scarlet. "We were totally _not_ engaging in _any_ intercourse!" Raven remained dazed, sitting up on the floor. She managed to pull her hood over her face.

Starfire cocked her head. "But friend Beast Boy, you are not wearing the clothes. And you obviously have the –"

Robin cut her off. "Let's just not have this happen again, please." Beast Boy and Raven nodded sheepishly. Raven briefly considered opening a portal in the floor, but knew Beast Boy would never forgive her if she left him to take the brunt of Robin's wrath. She probably deserved this chastising anyway.

"Aw man!" Cyborg said suddenly, his lip pulling up in disgust. He was looking at the floor. "Please tell me that's milk!"


	6. Crush

A/N – Oops…eheh…little late…Also, this one is not in the same as the last one :D

…

It was a hopeless idea. Possibly the stupidest one Beast Boy had ever had. These things had never really worked out for him in the past, so why should it work now? And especially considering the circumstances…the odds were _not_ in his favor. Developing a crush on Raven would probably end in disaster for all parties.

After getting over the initial confusion and annoyance, Beast Boy decided to act like he did with any other girl he was interested in. After a few cursory attempts at getting attention, Beast Boy realized it wasn't going to work in the slightest. Raven just fixed him with her usual glare, even if the joke was _so_ hilarious Beast Boy could hardly finish it. He was determined to get her to laugh at him, as he always was, but now it seemed imperative that she at least smile or something. Ever since this new development, he just had to get _everything_ right in her presence – a feat most would deem impossible.

But Beast Boy was stubborn. He pestered her day and night, practically never letting up on his talking. It got to the point that she cut him off mid-babble and told him she needed space. It had hurt his feelings, but he had brushed it off like it was nothing and spent the rest of the afternoon sulking in his room.

The entire team was aware of his infatuation with the resident empath. Starfire found it adorable, Robin found it annoying, and Cyborg found it downright hilarious. "Good luck!" he had guffawed when Beast Boy told him about his intentions.

"What do you mean 'good luck'?" he had asked, slightly miffed. Cyborg's laugh petered off, and he rubbed a large metal hand in Beast Boy's uncombed hair.

"B, I know you are some kinda lady-killer, but _Raven_?" This started up a new batch of chuckles. "That's expert mode!"

The animorph crossed his arms and pouted his lip. Cyborg was right; his target was nearly unattainable. So Beast Boy decided he was just going to stop liking Raven. It was only a crush; it should be easy to make it go away.

Only it wasn't. Whenever Raven so much was walked past him, it was like every cell in his body suddenly lit on fire. He dreamed of her almost nightly; her scent was intoxicating. He'd get distracted during training just _watching _her. While sparring with Starfire, Raven had walked in wearing civilian work out clothes – shorts and a sport top. Beast Boy was certain his jaw hit the floor - he couldn't look anywhere else. Then Starfire got him with a left hook that sent him flying through the wall.

Cyborg had to bandage him up in the infirmary. He had broken a rib and gotten a nasty black eye. Starfire felt horrible. "Friend Beast Boy," she blubbered, "I thought you would do the attack of counter!"

"Yeah, B," Cyborg grumbled, his large, deft fingers probing the green teen's side. "What happened to that 'attack of counter'?"

"I got distracted," Beast Boy snapped. He was angry at himself. Mostly because his deal with himself didn't follow through. Cyborg gave Beast Boy a long look.

"Star," the half-robot started, "why don't you go fill Robin in? I'll take over from here." The alien girl nodded, sent Beast Boy one last pitying look, and flew out the door. Cyborg fixed his steely gaze back on Beast Boy.

"What, dude?" A lecture was coming. He could feel it.

Cyborg took in a deep breath. "Did Raven distract you?" Beast Boy blushed and looked away. A wave of shame and embarrassment had taken over him.

"Look, man," Cy continued. "This is gettin' crazy. If you had been in a battle –"

"Which I wasn't," Beast Boy growled, his ears flattening. Cyborg's jaw clenched tighter.

"But if you had been, this injury coulda been a whole lot worse. We can't let that happen, B."

Beast Boy sighed, putting a hand into the roots of his hair and pulling. "She's just…everywhere. Ya know?" He looked up hopefully. His best friend gave him a small smile.

"You gotta do something about that, bro. You're gonna go crazy."

"Like what?" Beast Boy was desperate. _Anything_ to get Raven out of his thoughts.

Cyborg shrugged. "Just tell her, man."

Beast Boy threw up his arms, immediately regretting it when a shooting pain went up his side. "_What_? No thanks dude, I actually _enjoy_ living in this dimension."

Cyborg began cleaning up supplies, that annoying smirk still on his face. "It's the only way, B. Trust me; it'll lift a weight off of your chest. And hey, maybe she'll like you back!"

Beast Boy spent the rest of the evening thinking about what Cyborg had said. It certainly wouldn't hurt, telling her about his little crush. Or, knowing Raven, it actually might. Beast Boy cringed. But then he thought about the other half of what his robotic buddy had said: _Maybe she'll like you back!_ It was quite a hopeful statement. But then again, Raven rarely showed her emotions. Could she be holding something in?

Squaring his shoulders, Beast Boy made the decision to man up and tell her. Just walk right up to her door, knock, and say, _"Raven, I have a crush on you, and I thought you should know."_ Or should he start with a pick up line? No, too risky.

He chickened out the first three times he walked down the hallway. Not his proudest moments. He now stood in front of her door for the fourth time. His hands were sweating so much that his gloves were probably moist. His legs were shaky, and his eyes kept blurring. All his sensitive ears could hear was his own heartbeat. Beast Boy made a silent promise to kick Cyborg's ass for making him do this.

Swallowing loudly, Beast Boy raised his fist to the door and knocked.


	7. Realization

It started out as a regular patrol. It was four in the afternoon, and it was pouring rain. Beast Boy sat on the empty windowsill of an abandoned business building, staring out at the gray city. Raven sat cross-legged on the floor behind him, murmuring her mantra under her breath. He was supposed to be being quiet, as she was doing an "emotional scan" of the area. He hoped that his intense waves of _boredom_ weren't choking her signals or whatever.

He sighed and lay his head back against the wall crook. The raindrops occasionally flew directly into his face, a mildly unpleasant sensation. Beast Boy tapped his gloved fingers on his knee, frustrated that of all people, he had to be sanctioned with _Raven_. Of course, it was the easiest way for him to get work done, but where was the fun in that? Nowhere.

"Are you almost done?" he groaned. Raven ignored him, continuing her mumbling. He turned his head to look at her. She was sitting with her back to him, floating six inches from the dirty concrete. Her hands rested on her knees. Beast Boy sniffed in annoyance and swung off of his perch, into the room.

He walked over to her until he was about two feet from her back. "Hey, Rae!" he barked. Not even a pause in the quiet murmurs. Beast Boy walked around in front of her and sat down, facing her. Raven's eyes were closed, her shadowed face placid. His legs were long enough now that his knees almost touched her floating ones when he sat cross-legged. Beast Boy leaned in close to her face; close enough that he could smell the sweet tinge of tea on her breath.

"Raven!" he yelled. The sorceress's eyes snapped open, immediately sparking with anger.

"What?" she hissed through her clenched teeth.

Beast Boy raised his eyebrows. "You almost done?" She fixed him with a glare that probably would've set someone less experienced on fire.

"You interrupted me," she growled. Beast Boy rolled his eyes and rocked back onto his haunches.

"I'm bored out of my mind," he explained. "Found any suspicious activity?"

Raven's eyes narrowed dangerously. She opened her mouth to give a stinging reply, when her eyes flicked behind Beast Boy. Her pupils dilated with fear.

Beast Boy spun around on his toes, adrenaline already pumping in his blood. He didn't see it at first, and was about to ask what she was freaking out about when it hit him. Against the concrete wall, about ten feet off of the ground, were two red dots. And when he looked closer, he saw the faint silhouette.

It was gray – the same color as the concrete behind it. And most likely made of the same material. They had tried to fight it, at the recycling plant, but it had gotten away. The thing was impossible to track, and seemed to have no other motivation than to hurt and annoy them.

"Raven," Beast Boy whispered, instinctively stepping in front of the smaller Titan. "Radio Robin. We need –" Before he could finish the sentence, the thing lashed out a concrete arm and hit him square in the chest. He hadn't been ready for it, and it drove the breath from his lungs. The punch was so intense that the still smallish boy was sent flying for the wall. He hit the window ledge and flipped over, heading straight for the ground fifteen stories below.

Distantly, he heard Raven scream.

Out of panic, Beast Boy almost forgot to shift. He sucked at the air, trying to regain use of his lungs. He shifted into a crow and flapped his wings madly. The rain was certainly not helping – he always tried to avoid flying in it when he could.

He was disoriented and dizzy, and his wings were sodden and already becoming sore. Knowing Raven was alone in there with the monster, he flapped harder. The five of them together couldn't control that thing!

He reached the window and swooped in, in time to see a mid-mantra Raven get slammed into the wall. She hit it hard enough to leave a dent, and slumped to the floor like a rag doll. Beast Boy shifted back into himself, panic making his heart beat faster. She wasn't moving. Raven wasn't moving.

Throwing all logic out of the window, Beast Boy flung himself at the creature, letting out a roar. Even in his tiger form, he barely grazed the thing. His massive claws scraped on stone. Beast Boy growled in frustration and leaped again. The monster was quick, and it flashed out of his line of attack. Beast Boy tried to get a good grip on the floor with his claws, but it was slippery from the rain. He fell on his side, letting out a huff as the ground drove the breath from his lungs. He shifted back into his human form as he opened his eyes.

The thing jumped out the window, becoming one with the raindrops.

Still breathing hard, Beast Boy crawled over to Raven's crumpled form. "Rae," he whispered. Fear was making his hands shake. He grabbed her shoulder and gently turned her over. Her body followed his hand with hardly any effort. Beast Boy began to panic.

"Raven," he said, louder. "Oh, God. Please don't be dead." He ran a hand over her head, checking for wounds. All of the Titans were trained in basic first aid, in case of an emergency. Beast Boy sucked in a terse breath as his gloved fingers came away soaked in blood. He pulled Raven's head onto his lap. Tears were making his eyes blurry.

"Rae, if you die I'll never forgive you," he said loudly. Wiping at his eyes with his shirt sleeve, he parted the hair near the wound. It didn't look good – she had hit the wall _really _hard. Beast Boy pulled off his glove and pressed it against the bloody hole. With the other, he shakily pulled out his communicator.

It took a moment of controlling his breathing and trying not to cry before he could press the emergency call button. He was talking as soon as the first face popped on the screen – Robin.

"Beast Boy. What's –"

"We were attacked," he stuttered. He couldn't look at the screen, only at the glove that was starting to turn red. "Robin, Raven's not responding –"

"What were you attacked –"

"Raven isn't responding!" Beast Boy yelled, taking out his anger on the communicator. "She's bleeding! Send Cyborg. Send him right now. Or an ambulance. Or something. Oh, God." He was definitely crying now. His left hand was soaked in her blood. Was she even breathing?

It felt like years for the Team to show up. Beast Boy remained locked in position, now using his other glove to try and staunch the never-ending flow of blood. He kept whispering "Please don't die, Rae, please don't die", and continued to even when Cyborg pulled her away from him to check her vitals.

"She's alive," he proclaimed, and Beast Boy felt a weight lift off of his shoulders. Cyborg checked Raven for any other injuries before picking her up, cradling her like a small child. "She shouldn't be unconscious this long. Good staunching the blood, but she'll probably still need a transfusion. Probably has a concussion." Beast Boy whimpered.

He rode in the back of the T-Car all the way back to the Tower, holding Raven's head in his lap. He was now pressing a bandage from the first aid kit to her head. His other hand clutched Raven's limp one.

Both Robin and Starfire had to pry him away from the infirmary as Cyborg set to work. "No!" he howled, struggling against their restraining arms. "Don't let her die!"

"She's in good hands, Beast Boy," Robin grunted, struggling to keep hold of the changeling's thrashing arms.

"Yes, friend, please calm down! You are aggravating your wounds!" Starfire said. Her arms wrapped tighter around Beast Boy's waist. They were eventually able to drag him to the common room. He had worn himself out, and could no longer fight. Instead, a steady stream of angry tears trailed his cheeks.

Robin gave him a once over, and bandaged the small cuts Beast Boy had suffered. Starfire made him wash his hands, which were coated in Raven's blood. He did this all in silence, worry gnawing at his stomach. How were they all so calm? He had seen her hit the wall. He had seen her crumple to the ground. He had seen the blood soaking through her hair.

Beast Boy remained curled up on the couch, changing into a Labrador Retriever so he didn't have to speak to them. Robin was obviously annoyed by this; he had been pestering Beast Boy with questions about the attack. The leader had left the room, frustrated, about ten minutes in to the one-sided interrogation. Starfire remained sitting beside her teammate, running her gentle hand over his fur.

When the door opened and let in Cyborg's scent, Beast Boy shot up and took a flying leap off of the couch, shifting in mid-air. He landed in a crouch in front of the half-robot and took off down the hallway. Cyborg called out to him, but he didn't listen.

Beast Boy reached the infirmary and swung the door open. Raven was sitting up in a bed, a bandage attached to her head. There was an IV in her arm. He raced over to her and hugged her, realizing a little late that she might be in pain. To his immediate surprise, Raven hugged him back, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist.

"I thought I lost you," he whispered. The harsh scent of antiseptic burned in his nose.

"I thought I lost you, too," Raven murmured. "You went out that window. I thought you were gone." Beast Boy was silent, his nose buried in her hair.

"You were bleeding so much," he said, voice wavering as he pulled out of the hug. Raven stared up at him, her violet eyes large and round.

"Cyborg said you saved me," she rasped. Beast Boy looked at his shoes, swiping a hand across his nose.

"I dunno, Rae," he mumbled. "I was just…really scared." He looked up suddenly, meeting her eyes. "I was so sure you were gonna die and I just –" His throat closed up, and he clenched his jaw for a moment. Raven's eyes searched his face.

"Thank you, Beast Boy," she whispered. And in that was all of the gratitude he could ever possibly hear. His heart pounded, and Beast Boy was suddenly afraid he would start crying again.

"I won't ever let you die, Raven," he said softly. And such an intense wave of feeling crashed over him that he spun on his heel and left the infirmary, the door slamming behind him.

For in that whirlwind of fear and worry and relief and anger, Beast Boy realized that he loved her.

…

A/N – All done! I hope you enjoyed, my fellow shippers!


	8. Lazy Day

Beast Boy was panicking. He was pacing his room, hands alternatively wringing together and getting chewed on. The sixteen year-old didn't notice what he was doing – his brain was too much of a mess to focus on anything but the task at hand.

It had started out so harmless: a bet with Cyborg. Nothing unusual. The bet was on who could make a better sandwich, with Robin as the judge. Each boy kept the stakes high, but also secret. That way, no one could back out half-way through. Beast Boy was going to make Cyborg call him "Almighty One" all day.

And then he lost. It was probably because Robin was a fan of lunchmeats, which Beast Boy refused to use. The Changeling was hoping his wonderful mix of veggies and tofu would win him over. This did not happen. Beast Boy prepared for whatever Cyborg had in store, hoping it wasn't as ego-killing as his was.

It was worse.

"You have to ask Raven on a _date_," the half-robot said, a smile spreading across his face.

Beast Boy turned a purplish color. Robin choked on Cyborg's sandwich. Cy's human eye was as wide and bright as his robot one. He looked practically devilish. Of course, B's best friend was _well_ aware of his huge crush on the empath. Cyborg had probably been holding on to this stake for months.

"You want me to _die_?" Beast Boy squeaked. His stomach had ridden an elevator to his throat.

Cyborg chuckled softly. "Go get your proposal ready, BB. You have to do it today." Beast Boy looked to Robin for help, but the Boy Wonder only shrugged.

"Sorry man, you're on your own." He took another bite of the winning sandwich. Beast Boy glared at it, wanting to take back everything, but the rules of the bet held him fast.

Later that evening, Beast Boy had gone to Raven's room. Cyborg was watching him – Beast Boy could hear the security cameras trailing his movements. He showed a particular gesture to the nearest one before knocking on the sorceress's door.

Raven answered immediately, almost as if she had been standing there. Beast Boy almost ran off down the hallway in sheer terror. He should turn into a turtle. That's normal, right?

"Can I help you?" the empath asked, sounding entirely uninterested.

Beast Boy coughed suddenly, trying to stimulate his voice into working. "Um. Hi."

Raven quirked an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" she repeated. An annoyed dip slid into her voice. Beast Boy felt himself sweating.

"Uh, I have a…question to ask?"

She blinked. "Alright. What do you want?"

Beast Boy suddenly wished he had drafted a will. His hands were slippery inside his gloves. _C'mon, B_, he thought to himself. _What's the worst that could happen?_ The immediate answer was death, but he decided to ignore that. "Do you…uhhh…wanna go…on a…er…date? With me." Instinctively, he cringed back, waiting to be enveloped in flames.

"Sure."

His jaw dropped to the floor. Beast Boy straightened up and looked at her, eyes wide with disbelief. "What?"

Raven shrugged one shoulder. Her face was emotionless. "I said sure. I'll go on a date with you."

"Am I dreaming?" he asked her, squinting. Now she was probably going to either dissolve into a pile of snakes or start stripping. He wasn't sure which idea freaked him out more.

"No." She was starting to look as if she regretted her original statement. "When do you want to do this?"

_To be honest, I didn't think I'd get this far._ "Uh, tomorrow?" It was the first thing that popped into his head. "At…um…three."

"Alright. I'll see you then." The door slid shut in his face.

And now, at two-thirty, Beast Boy was panicking. He had been too stunned by the empath's answer to plan an actual date. And now he only had thirty minutes left to think of something that would leave the best impression of his life.

Twenty minutes later, he made the realization that he had no money and cursed his terrible spending habits. There was only one option left: he had to wing it.

Beast Boy switched out his uniform for a clean t-shirt and jeans. He attempted to comb his hair, but gave up after it resisted every brush. If he was being honest with himself, Raven probably wasn't expecting much, but he wanted to at least _try_ to impress her.

He showed up at her door holding some dandelions that he had hastily picked from the garden at the last second. She answered, immediately looked at the flowers and said "You do realize that those are weeds, right?"

Beast Boy's ears drooped. _Way to get off to a great start_, his brain taunted.

"However," she continued, glancing up to meet his eyes. "I appreciate the gesture." She gently took the dandelions from his tightly clenched hand, giving him a small smile as she did so. Beast Boy felt his heart jump into his throat. His mouth dried up.

Raven placed the dandelions on her wardrobe and stepped back out, closing the door behind her. She looked at Beast Boy expectantly. He was still reeling from the smile.

"What are we going to do?" she prodded. The hood of her sweatshirt was down, and she pulled it up to hide her face.

"Uhhhh…" Beast Boy struggled to think of an idea. Usually, he was great at thinking things up on the spot, but she was making him nervous. "We are going to do…uh, a lazy day!"

She cocked an eyebrow. "A lazy day? Isn't that what you do every day?"

Beast Boy flapped his hand at her. "No, this is different. We're just gonna spend the day together chilling out! Doesn't that sound nice?" _Please, please say yes…_

Raven blinked, her face utterly unreadable. Finally: "Yes, that does."

With those words, Beast Boy's worries melted away. He grabbed her hand and tugged her along the hallway. "Well, c'mon then! I got the _best_ movie to show you!"

…

A/N – Hello lovies. As you can see, I am attempting this BBRae week! This one's a little short, but hopefully the next will be longer :) Hope you enjoyed!


	9. Flu Season

It was raining.

Actually, to be more accurate, it was _pouring_. The sky was black with thunderheads, and lightning danced across the ocean. Raven was standing on a pier, her cloak blowing out behind her and exposing her bare legs to the rain. Her boots and leotard were soaked entirely through, but she remained facing into the storm.

She was waiting out a tip Robin had passed on to the team: a possible threat was heading toward Jump, disguised as a fishing boat. The tip was iffy at best, but Raven volunteered to take up a post at the docks just in case. No one had anticipated the storm that would swiftly move in.

A massive wave crashed against the dock. Raven threw up a shield at the last second, deflecting most of the salt water. Her teeth were gritted against the icy sting of the rain, but besides that she seemed undeterred.

In truth, Raven enjoyed storms. They reminded her of herself in a way – like the storm was earth's way of setting its emotions free. It was almost meditative. When she was inside, that was. Outdoors, she was starting to feel rather pummeled and more than a little cold. It had been four hours. The rain had started three before.

As the storm started, Robin called her on her communicator and asked if she wanted to come back. The tip wasn't a top priority, he said. Raven politely refused, much too stubborn to leave because of some rain. Now she was beginning to wonder if she should have taken up the offer.

She squinted into the storm, trying to see out to sea. It was pointless – anyone sailing in this weather was suicidal. If there was a boat carrying malicious cargo, it had probably either rerouted or turned back.

Raven sighed and turned away from the ocean, her cloak immediately reacting to the change in direction. Its soaked weight smacked against her body, sending her stumbling forward. She hit the planks of the pier on her hands and knees, letting out curses in both English and Azarathian. The rain pounded down on her. She tore her heavy cloak off at the collar. Distracted by this, Raven failed to realize the wave until it hit her, soaking her to the bone.

"Azarath, metrion, zinthos," she mumbled, attempting to control her frustration. She pushed her now-soaked hair out of her face, curling her lip with disgust. She smelled like the ocean. Which, despite what the books and movies said, was not a pretty smell.

Clutching her sodden cloak in one hand, she rose to her feet, nearly being knocked down again by the winds. She tried to muster the strength to say her mantra and summon a portal, but her teeth were chattering too hard. She groaned in frustration and collapsed back onto her knees. If the elements were going to put up this hard of a fight, she had half a mind to let them win.

She didn't hear her name the first few times it was said to her. It took her until the person trying to get her attention physically grabbed her by the shoulders and yelled into her face. "Raven!"

Raven opened her eyes, finding herself only a few inches from a familiar green changeling.

"Beast Boy?" she asked, mildly confused. The teen's eyes were round with worry, and his gloved hands were clutching her shoulders hard enough to hurt.

"What are you doing?" he yelled, trying to be heard over the wind and rain. Raven blinked, trying to keep the water from blurring her eyes. Beast Boy didn't wait for her to answer. "I'm taking you home!"

She didn't fight as the changeling pulled her soaked body into his arms. He shifted into some large, furry animal – perhaps and gorilla or a Sasquatch. Raven turned her face away from the rain, pushing it into the warm, furry chest of her savior. He was soaked through as well, but Raven found she didn't care. She closed her eyes and tried to block out the storm, allowing Beast Boy to carry her home.

…

Raven floated back into consciousness when the door to the Tower slammed shut and the sounds of the storm became further away. Beast Boy had shifted back into himself, just as cold and wet as she was. His green hair was slicked flat to his forehead, dripping. He continued carrying her, taking her to the elevator. Raven didn't fight it – she was tired, and also relatively curious as to where he was taking her.

He got out of the elevator at the level of their rooms. Raven assumed he would take her to her room and leave her there, but he passed the door and made a beeline for the bathroom. The empath felt confused, but didn't say anything. She felt too tired. And she was violently shivering now – it was doubtful she could resist.

Beast Boy opened the bathroom door and closed it behind him. He kneeled down and gently placed Raven on the rug, his hair dripping down onto her sodden form. She met his eyes, trying to muster the energy to ask what was happening.

"Can you take your clothes off?" he asked, looking much more serious than usual. It was strange to see, that was for sure. Raven squinted at him.

"What?"

"Okay, you're talking, that's a good sign," he mumbled, half to himself. It wasn't until it decreased that Raven realized how anxious he was. "But can you take your clothes off? 'Cause I'll do it but I'm not sure you'd like that."

Raven's brow creased. "Why do I have to take my clothes off?" she asked.

Beast Boy pressed his lips together for a moment, his worried eyes taking in her face. "I'm scared you're gonna get hypothermia, Rae," he mumbled. "You have to take your wet clothes off."

If she wasn't so drowsy, Raven would outright refuse. Instead, she sighed. "Don't look." Her cloak had been dropped in the hall, so all that was left was her leotard. She struggled to sit up and immediately felt dizzy. She fell back slightly, catching herself on her elbows. Shame made her cheeks burn and her shivering worsen. "Beast Boy, I need help."

Beast Boy blinked rapidly. "Uh, okay. Um…should I like, close my eyes or something?"

"You might as well," the sorceress grumbled. "It will spare me an iota of shame." He nodded and moved behind her, gently sitting her up and supporting her weight. His hands, which were relatively cold but no longer wet, felt around her neck until he found the zipper. Slowly, he drew it down, his free hand braced on her shoulder.

The blood seemed to have begun defrosting within her veins, as Raven felt her cheeks begin to warm in a blush. She cursed her body, wishing it could go to her extremities instead. She wanted use of her fingers before Beast Boy had to take off her underwear.

Beast Boy had reached the end of the zipper. He brushed his hand back up her back, looking for the opposite shoulder. He curled his fingers under the fabric and began to peel it off, leaving Raven's skin exposed to the bathroom air. He pulled it off of her arms and down her torso. When it got to her waist, he left it for a moment.

"Uh, so, this might be sorta awkward, but can you help me get around? I don't want to kick you, but I hafta take your pants off," he said. Raven groaned and Beast Boy stifled a snort. "Okay, I never thought I'd say that sentence. It sounds kinky out of context."

"Shut up," Raven snarled through her chattering teeth. She grabbed his arm, pulling him so he was in front of her, kneeling at her feet. True to his word, the green changeling had his eyes tightly shut. He bit down on his lip and put his hands on her bare ankles. Barely pausing, he ran his hands up her legs until they met the bottom of her leotard. Raven's fuzzy head was pounding. The scene was so odd, so sexual in an out-of-context way. She didn't know how to feel about it. He once again wrapped his fingers into the soaked leotard and pulled it off her legs. Once it was off, he tossed it in the general direction of the shower. It landed with a _plop_.

"Alright, it's about to get awkward," Beast Boy warned. He leaned back. "Are you, uh, wearing underwear?"

"Yes!" she snapped. Beast Boy put his hands up defensively.

"That's gotta come off, too."

Raven closed her eyes. "Then take. It. Off. Quickly, before I break your neck."

Beast Boy's face turned a dark red. "Ya know, out of context –"

"No more out of context," Raven growled.

The teen got her bottoms off easily enough, despite the fact that his hands were shaking ever-so-slightly. He struggled for a couple minutes with her bra, cutting off her instructions with an "I know what I'm doing!" despite the fact that he very obviously didn't. When Raven was naked, he pulled her robe off of a hook on the wall and threw it at her. "Wrap up in this. I gotta change."

Later, after a thorough drying and some tea and hot chocolate, Raven and Beast Boy were sitting on the Common Room couch, sipping their respective drinks and looking out at the storm. Beast Boy was having trouble looking at her; the tips of his ears had been red ever since the whole undressing fiasco. Raven had finally stopped shaking. She was feeling a lot warmer and drier. Her mind was clearer.

"Thanks for helping me," she murmured, staring into her tea.

"It's no big," Beast Boy answered. "I got taught basic first aid." He laughed lightly, clutching his mug tighter. The red on his ears traveled down to his cheeks.

Raven watched him for a moment. She didn't need to reach out her empathy to know that her teammate was embarrassed. She decided to change the subject.

"How did you know to come find me?"

Beast Boy finally looked up at her. "I guess I was worried. No dude should be out in weather like that. Not even animal dudes. Plus, you were out there for a while." A tiny smile pulled at his mouth. "And it's flu season."

Raven suppressed the sudden urge to smile back. "I actually can't catch the flu. I'm immune to viruses."

Beast Boy balked. "What? That's no fair!" He laughed again, and Raven let the smile appear on her lips for a second. He looked at her, his soft expression turning mischievous.

"Ya know, Rae," he began, teasingly. "They say that you're supposed to have skin to skin contact after suffering from hypothermia. To restore body heat." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Don't get your hopes up."

…

A/N – I love reviews. They make me happy and inspire me to write more ;)


	10. Nighttime

She came in the nighttime. It was a recent development; her visits. Beast Boy didn't want to mention it, afraid that it would stop. So he let it happen, beginning to expect it. Around two a.m., his door would slide open. He had always kept it unlocked. He would open one eye to peek, seeing her faint silhouette against the black backdrop of the hallway. She would drift across the floor, utterly silent. She'd stop next to his bed, looking down at him for a moment. He would silently thank whatever Gods there were for giving him the idea to start sleeping on the bottom of his bunk. Then, with no words, she'd slip into the covers next to him, snuggling her small body into the crook of his. In the morning, she'd be gone.

The first time this happened, Beast Boy was utterly terrified. He tried to say something, but all Raven had done was shush him. He never questioned it after that – it wasn't like it was a _bad_ experience. She was surprisingly warm – what with her complexion Beast Boy assumed she was cold to the touch. Her hair smelled like lavender, and the ends tickled his nose. Raven was very still when she slept, the rise and fall of her chest the only sign that she was actually breathing.

She didn't mention it during the day, remaining her reclusive self. She barely looked at him. It started to irk him slightly. Why did she always want to keep him in the dark? It was annoying. He decided that he would ask her the next night she did it.

Like clockwork, she was there again at one a.m. She ghosted over to him, violet eyes glowing slightly in the darkness. He moved over, and she pulled herself under the covers, her back facing him. Beast Boy opened his mouth, suddenly unsure if he should say anything at all.

"I've been having nightmares," she murmured, answering his silent question. "I can't fall asleep if I'm by myself."

Beast Boy grunted, more questions blooming behind his lips. "But…why me?"

Raven gave a very small chuckle. Beast Boy's heart thumped slightly faster. "Process of elimination. Also, you're the warmest."

"….Do you want to talk about your dreams?"

"No," she answered, somewhat curtly. Beast Boy flushed.

"Sorry."

She sighed, relaxing her shoulders into his chest. "I apologize for snapping, Beast Boy. I'm tired."

"Okay," he whispered. He had a sudden urge to bury his nose in her hair, and shoved it down as fast as possible. Lord knew what weird ass feelings that would bring up, which Raven in turn would sense. He tried to clear his mind in order to fall asleep.

In the morning, she was gone again. Beast Boy woke up tangled in his sheets, drooling on the pillow. He hoped he hadn't drooled on Raven. But the spot next to him was cold – the empath was long-gone.

They went through the rest of the day without really speaking, as per usual. And at night, she'd come back again, her body curling into his. They never spoke about it. Beast Boy would just open his arms and fall back asleep, nose brushing the back of her neck. It became a pretty normal occurrence. So when Raven didn't show up one night, Beast Boy felt worried.

He slipped out of his bed, still wearing only his leopard-print boxers. The hallway was dark, and although Beast Boy could see just fine with his strong night vision, he wondered how Raven traipsed the hallway at night with nothing to guide her. He reached her door, nervousness suddenly overcoming him. Would this be an invasion of her privacy? But his worry pervaded. He tried the button to open the door. It wasn't locked.

The room was pitch black except for the sliver of moonlight fighting to get through closed curtains. There was a Raven shaped form on the bed. It stirred. Raven sat up. "Beast Boy?"

His face heated with embarrassment. "Hi Rae."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, rubbing one eye sleepily.

Beast Boy scratched the back of his head. "Um, well…" He laughed sheepishly. "You didn't come in."

Raven was quiet for a moment. This was never a good sign. "Sorry to bother ya, Rae," he said quietly, turning to go back through the door.

"Wait."

He turned back around, heart skipping in his chest.

"Will you stay?"

…

A/N – I bet you thought I was dead. Haha…nope.


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